


Pie and Comfort

by cresswells



Series: Fallout [8]
Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Romantic Friendship, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-14
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 08:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/537327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswells/pseuds/cresswells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sydney makes a potentially life-changing decision, requests Adrian's help and eats pie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pie and Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot is based on information about The Indigo Spell that Richelle Mead has tweeted (namely, one specific line I've chosen to quote, and the setting, which will supposedly play a big part in the book). Also, since these are unrelated oneshots, this does not follow on from the last oneshot in the Fallout series (Sydney and Adrian are not together).

I stood outside the glowing neon sign of Pies & Stuff, wringing my hands anxiously. Already, I was regretting my late-night decision to meet Adrian here. What had I been _thinking_?

Truthfully, I hadn't been in my right mind. Exhausted from sleepless nights spent conjuring with Ms. Terwilliger, horrified by my own rebellious omissions every time I reported back to my superiors, and miserable with loneliness after another long day trying to fix things between myself and a stubbornly uncommunicative Jill, I'd resorted to the one thing I'd told myself I wouldn't do.

_Need to talk to you. Urgent. Meet me tomorrow for lunch? Somewhere public._

I'd sent the text at an ungodly hour of the night, agonising over the wording. Was it too informal? Too familiar? Less than a minute later, I had my reply.

_Course. 1pm? There's pies &stff in twn. Meet u outsde?_

I'd scrawled the details on a notepad, sent back a hasty _Okay, I'll be there,_ and deleted the entire chain of messages from my phone. Then I'd settled down for a sleepless night. The morning's lessons were a blur in my mind; I vaguely remembered Trey asking after my health and Eddie shooting me worried glances.

I checked my watch again. It was ten to one, but I'd already been waiting for five minutes. I twisted my cross necklace, my own personal reminder of who I was. This was a bad idea. This was a terrible idea. I should leave now, ring him to cancel –

Too late. The car of my dreams was already pulling into the lot, steered by a certain Moroi who had starred in too many of my dreams for my liking.

Adrian was out of the car and by my side in an instant. "Sydney," he said, fixing me with a worried frown. "Are you – is everything okay?"

"Hello to you, too," I said. I attempted a smile, but Adrian still looked worried, so I wasn't sure that it was effective. "I'm okay. I'm glad you came. Do you want to go inside?"

He nodded, glanced worriedly at me again, and then abruptly looked away from me. We entered the bright, cheery shop and found ourselves steered to a table for two by a thirty-something waitress whose gum-chewing and exaggerated over-enthusiasm were a clear message that she'd rather be elsewhere.

"Sage, you like berry, right?" Adrian asked as he scanned the laminated menu, barely glancing up at me.

I did a double-take. I had been planning to order just a glass of diet soda. "Yes, but –"

"One cherry, one blueberry," he told the waitress.

"Coming right up!" she said cheerily.

I waited until the waitress had disappeared into the kitchens before I crossed my arms and frowned at him. "I didn't come here to eat pie."

"No, you came here to tell me something 'urgent' that, for some mysterious reason, you couldn't tell me over the phone or in the privacy of my apartment." He still didn't seem to want to meet my eyes. "Since we're here instead, you might as well eat."

I looked down, suddenly uncomfortable. The truth was that I wasn't sure if I trusted myself to be alone with him in that apartment anymore. This wasn't a conversation I could have with anyone else present, but being in a public place, surrounded by people who knew nothing about us, made it slightly easier.

Adrian put down the laminated menu with stiff hands. "Look," he said, "Sydney, if this is about me –"

"What?" I said, genuinely surprised. "No! Why would this be about you?"

Adrian actually looked at me then, and his eyes widened with what looked like a mix of relief and embarrassment. "I just thought, since you wanted to meet me in public, you were going to tell me to get lost or something." He shrugged.

I was speechless for a long moment. I'd been distant with Adrian since finding out about his feelings for me – and since realising that those feelings might not be as unreciprocated as I might have liked – but although I'd briefly considered cutting him out of my life entirely, I'd quickly realised that it would be impossible. I needed him. And not just in a work-related capacity. The thought of never seeing him again was physically painful and I was ashamed and slightly disappointed that Adrian thought I might be capable of saying goodbye so easily.

"It's not about you," I promised. I felt warm and began folding the napkin in front of me to occupy my hands. "I… I'd actually like to ask for your help with something."

He raised his eyebrows. "Sydney Sage needs help from me? Has the apocalypse started early? Did I miss the memo about hell freezing over?"

I smiled faintly. "I've needed your help pretty much non-stop since we got here," I said honestly.

Adrian gave me a look that said he didn't believe that for a second. "So, if you didn't call me over here to break my heart into a million pieces again" – I winced, though his tone was mild and he was smiling – "what did you want me for?"

I put down the napkin. "It's… it's about the Alchemists," I began hesitantly.

Adrian's expression was carefully composed. "You say that as if you're not one of them," he noted in a detached voice.

"I _am_ one of them," I said quickly. "But… that doesn't mean that I have open access to all of their – _our_ – reports. I don't know everything that goes on. Some information is closed off to me."

Adrian waited for me to continue, but as I was deciding how best to phrase my suspicions, our waitress returned.

"One cherry, one blueberry!" she said perkily, setting down our plates. "Can I get you guys anything else?"

Adrian shook his head and I thanked her as she left. Then I stared down at my plate.

When Adrian had ordered the pies, I'd been slightly annoyed, but now I was horrified. The steaming hot pie was served with two huge dollops of melting ice-cream and mixed berries. And it was huge. I'd expected a single slice, not… _this_.

"Adrian," I said, aghast. "I can't eat all of this."

He frowned through a mouthful of pie. "You don't have to eat all of it," he said once he'd swallowed. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "But this fine establishment is brand new in town and uneaten pies on our table probably won't make a good impression on potential customers who happen to be passing by." He pointed at my plate with his fork. "A business woman like yourself should do her best to help new businesses like this one thrive."

I raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile. "I won't be able to eat it all," I warned as I picked up my fork.

He shrugged, trying and failing to look as though he didn't care whether I ate any at all. "I doubt there's much you can't do if you put your mind to it, Sage."

I tried a tiny piece, closing my eyes at the taste of warm berries. I'd have to skip a few lunches this week to make up for the extra calories, but maybe it was worth it.

"This is delicious," I admitted as I tried some with the ice-cream. I sighed happily as it melted on my tongue. When I opened my eyes, Adrian was staring at me, his loaded fork dangling forgotten from his slackened hand.

"Adrian," I asked, concerned, "Are you okay?"

He blinked. "Fine," he said hoarsely. He looked away and wiped his mouth on his napkin. My eyes followed his hands up to his lips, and then I found that I had to look away too.

"Maybe we should make this a weekly thing," Adrian said, sounding pleased. "It's good to see you actually enjoying food for once."

I shook my head. "This is a one-time thing," I said firmly.

Adrian sighed.

"What?"

He gestured to my half-eaten pie. "You know what I'm talking about," he said. "Why do you insist on doing this to yourself?"

"You know why," I said, tersely. I put my fork down and pushed my chair back very slightly. The knowledge that Adrian was aware of my preoccupation with losing weight made me uncomfortable. I glanced over at the people on the tables near us, but much to my relief no one seemed to be listening in.

He scoffed. "A few extra pounds won't kill you. A few extra pounds would be _good_ for you. Do you want me to call you _Celery Stick_ instead of Cupcake or Honey-Pie? It just doesn't inspire the same warm and fuzzy feelings."

"I want you to call me Sage," I said automatically. To my embarrassment, I felt my cheeks heat and heard my voice waver over my own surname. "I mean… I mean I don't want you to call me anything," I corrected lamely.

I risked a glance at him over the sticky formica-topped table. Adrian was grinning. "Just eat your pie, Sage."

I dug into the rapidly cooling pie and shovelled a heaping forkful into my mouth to keep myself from saying anything else embarrassing or dangerous. Very aware of him looking at me as I ate, I barely noticed the taste.

"So," Adrian said. He seemed to be making an effort to steer the conversation away from dangerous territory. "You were about to tell me something about the Alchemists?"

I nodded. I took another bite of pie and then set my fork down again for good. "I… I might have found something," I said, my heart thrumming in my chest as I spoke. "Something I wasn't supposed to see. Something the Alchemists _really_ don't want to be public knowledge."

Adrian looked alarmed. "Are they aware that you know about it?" he asked quickly.

I shook my head. He nodded seriously. "Good," he said. "Keep it that way."

I was surprised by the fierceness in his tone. Surprised and pleased. I hadn't told Adrian much about our organisation, but he was remarkably good at reading between the lines. He knew that I was right to be worried.

"I need your help," I admitted in a voice no louder than a whisper. "But no one else can know about this. I… I can't ask any of the others for help. It's better for them if they don't know. And I _know_ that I can't reveal this to any other Alchemists. I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but… You're the one person I trust to keep this a secret." My voice faltered slightly. "You don't have to do this. What I'm asking… It's dangerous. It's completely insane."

Adrian set down his own fork. "You're my best friend, Sage," he said quietly. He looked up at me from beneath impossibly thick lashes. "Hell, you and Jill are probably the only two people in the world who really _know_ me. I'd do anything for you. And not just because… Not just because of how I feel about you. But because I know you'd do the same for me." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table just inches from mine. "Whatever else there is between us, that hasn't changed. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it."

My shock at his first words melted into a painful, all-too-familiar ache. In that moment I wanted so badly to take his hands in mine. I wanted to share the sentiment, to reveal to him that before I'd come to Palm Springs I'd worried that I'd never meet anyone I could call a friend, never mind someone who truly understood me in the way that he did.

"Thank you," I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat and quickly leaned back, brushing my sweaty palms on my trousers. I took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eye. "I have to know the truth. I want to break into the Alchemist headquarters in Virginia." My words lightened the load of betrayal I'd felt for the past few days, as if expressing my own treachery had lessened the guilt I felt even as I planned it. "It'll be easy for me to get in, but I'll need help getting the information I want and then getting out. The only option I see is to use compulsion. If they won't give me the answers I want, I'll find them myself."

Adrian didn't even look surprised. On the contrary, his face lit up. "You're serious," he said.

I nodded. "I am."

"You're planning to break into the files of your own superiors."

"Yes."

He grinned. "And you want my help – _a Moroi's_ _help_ – to do it."

I flushed. "Yes."

Adrian stared at me dreamily. "Have I mentioned recently how much I love you?"

My heart stuttered and I couldn't help but flinch. He noticed my reaction and his face fell slightly, but he reached out and took my hand in his. "Hey," he said. "What you're doing – it's brave and brilliant and I support you one-hundred percent. Best friend, remember? You want me to keep my distance and that's what I'll do. You want me to help you break into some top-secret files, and I'll do just that."

I smiled. "You mean it?" I asked, hardly daring to believe that it had taken so little persuasion. "You'll help me?"

Adrian brushed his fingers along mine, sending sparks across my skin. "Whatever you need, Sage," he said. "You only have to ask."


End file.
